World condemns ‘cowardly’ Norway attacks

Western governments lined up to condemn twin attacks in Norway which have claimed at least 87 lives, slamming the “cowardly” perpetrators as they vowed to step up intelligence cooperation.

With Norway involved in both the Afghan and Libya campaigns, NATO’s chief said the alliance stood united against the “heinous” acts of violence while US President Barack Obama urged countries around the world to step up cooperation in anti-terrorism efforts.

The attacks were “a reminder that the entire international community has a stake in preventing this kind of terror from occurring,” Obama said during a meeting with New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key.

“We have to work cooperatively together on intelligence and in terms of prevention of these kinds of horrible attacks,” added Obama.

“Terror has struck. We are all Norwegians,” he said in a message on Twitter.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was outraged by the “evil” attacks and pledged to work with Oslo to track down the perpetrators.

“These attacks are a stark reminder of the threat we all face from terrorism,” he said. “I have offered Britain’s help, including through our close intelligence cooperation.

“We will work with Norway to hunt the murderers who did this and prevent any more innocent deaths. We can overcome this evil, and we will.”

French President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned what he said was an “odious and unacceptable act” of violence while Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that the attackers had “shown a total lack of respect for human life”.

And in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was “horrified”. Her “government and the German people are standing by” Norway, she added.

“Canada condemns these barbarous and senseless acts of violence,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said as his Australian counterpart Julia Gillard also voiced outrage.

“A number of people have been killed and many more injured. Survivors have lived through a nightmare,” she said.

China on Saturday joined global condemnation of the attacks.

“China expresses condemnation of the terror attacks and condolences towards it victims,” said a brief statement by China’s foreign ministry that did not mention Norway by name.

New Zealand’s prime minister John Key also voiced his “sympathies and concerns,” adding: “If it is an act of global terrorism, then I think that what it shows is no country, large or small, is immune from that risk.”